Stretcher



June 13, 1950 R. c. HUGHES 511,061

STRETCHER Filed ,Jan. 29, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 u un m Ml Ayr/nnss.-I l( H yr/jaa #76.6. Z/ @a0/gert( #(9265 R, c. HUGHES STRETCHER 3 Sheefs-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 29,'l 1945 Mns/Ess.- Z.,

R. c. HUGHl-is June 13, 1950 STRETCHER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 29, 1945 F/GJZ.

Patented June 13, 1950 UNITED `STATES PATIENT orifice r STRETCHER Robert C. Hughes, Paoli, Pa.

:Application January 29, 1945, Serial No.,575,0`52

5 Claims. v1

In case of accident to the human body, and particularly any accident `characterized by broken bones, it is always important, and often of vital importance, to prevent any .additional injury to the body in ,the course of transportation from the locus of the accident to a hospital or hospital base. `In the case of broken bones, any serious displacement, before hospital treatment, beyond that produced by the accident itself, often produces conditions that make the remedial measures of the physician or surgeon more diicult and may, lin some cases, prevent completely successful Vbodily repair. Indeed, in some cases, fatal outcomes arise not "from the inherently serious character of the bodily injury, but from seoondary injuries incurred during transport of the injured body. This -is particularly true, although not altogether limited to, a `broken bone in the spinal column.

The best insurance against such secondary injuries is to maintain the injured membersin a rigid position relative to the remainder of the body; and the -most eiective insurance against any vdisturbance of fsuch rigidity is `to 'maintain the entire body in a rigid condition as a unit. Jolts, jars and other irregular movements ,of the carrier or stretcher Vduringtransport are usually unavoidable; butfif the body-is maintained rigid as ahunitythedanger from :such lmovements during travel lrom placeitoplace is minimized. The necessity for maintaining yrigididy of the body, between the -place of accident vand that of the application of remedial measures, is particularly essential lin the case of the breakage of `bones in thespin-ai column without-'involvement of injury to thespinal cord. Any deviation from rigidity following kthe `vaccident is attended with danger of linjury'tothe spin-al cordfand consequent pa.- ralysis-or death.

The object of my invention yis to -provide a stretcher which includes equipment y.whereby the entire body, `after v.careful deposit -on lthe carrier or stretcher, 1in-ay be readily y.and quickly secured thereto in such amanner -as to insure, ynot only that the bodywillbe maintained in Xedpositio-n on vthe carrier-or-stretcher, but also that all parts of the Abody ywill .be -maintained fin Xed relative positions-until the hospitalvbase is reached. Incidentally, my improved stretcher is adapted to maintain a broken :leg ,or arm in xed position relative tothe-body-.trunk eventhoughthe equipment-.is not.somanipulatedasto hold the entire bodi7 rigid; but a primary advantage of .the `invention ,is its adaptability .to guard .against all secondary injuries where conditions 4make it diiicult 55 or impossible to ,correctly -or completely diagnose the .character .or `extent of the injuries `at the locusof the accident.

A stretcher effective to accomplish the above purposes is disclosed in an application led b v me VYDecember 29, 1942,.Seria1 No. 470,429, which. hasmatured into Patent 2,377,440, issued June 12,. 19.45. The stretcher forming the subject matter of the present .invention embodies certain features of ythe invention of .said application but embodies also lnumerous improvements therein. The principal .improvements are intended yand adapted to provide a more flexible structure whereby the stretchermay be adjusted in various ways 4to fit -human -bodies of different sizes and regardless of rvariations in the relative lengths of -the.arms,.legs `and chest. The `invention also has for its purpose to provide a stretcher the adjustable elementsof which-may be readily and quickly manipulated. The invention also has =for itsobjecttoprovide a stretcher which is of maximum strength and durability. These and other advantages oftheinvention will be fully understood by reference to Athe following description and the'annexed drawings, which disclose a preferred Yembodiment of the invention. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 'is a plan View of the stretcher.

Fig. 2 is a similar View showing a representationthereon o'f a human body, with the various elements adjusted to hold the body in rigid relation to the stretcher.

Fig. 3 is a side view of Fig. l.

Fig. 41s an inverted plan View of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a cross-section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is adetail side view, partly in section, of one of the arms for engaging the crotch, shoulder or head of the body and of its connections with the baseboard.

Fig. .6A `is a detail view of part of the arm of Fig. 6.

Fig. '7 is ,an end View, Ypartly in section,.of Fig. 6.

Fig. .8 is a side View, partly in section, of part of the arm of Fig. 6.

Fig. ,9 is a-bottomplan View of the connections between the .baseboard and the arm of Fig. 6.

Fig. .1,0 -is a side view, partly in section, of the parts shown in.-Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a detailside view, partly in section, 0f part of the `:mechanism for imposing tension upon, and .holding rigid, the arms and legs.

Fig. `l2 is an end view, partly in section, of Fig. 11.

Fig. 13 is a bottom plan view partially in section of Fig. 11.

Fig. 14 is a plan view, partly in section, of mechanism cooperating with that shown in Figs. 11, 12 and 13 for imposing tension upon, and holdingr rigid, the arms and legs.

Fig. 14A is a view, partly in section, of part of Fig. 14, at right angles thereto.

Fig. 15 is a plan view partially in section of the pawl and ratchet means for holding the mechanism of Figs. 12-14 in adjusted position.

The baseboard of the stretcher made of metal preferably comprises two sections 20, hinged at the center to allow the sections to be folded one upon the other, so that, when not in use, the stretcher may be more compact and thereby facilitate handling and transportation. The ends of the stretcher are provided with corner brackets 2l' having openings therein through which are inserted bars 2 l, which may be withdrawn, as shown in Fig. 2, to form hand bars for carrying the stretcher and the body deposited thereon. These brackets 2 I are encased with a sheet metal covering 2 l as shown in Fig. 4.

One essential feature of the invention is to provide means for imposing tension on the legs or arms, or any of them, so that the body may be held rigid. Referring rst to the means for imposing tension on the legs: Secured to the bottom of the baseboard are troughs 22. 22, in each of which is a slidable bar 23. having pivoted thereto, at its outer end, a lever 24. carrying, at its pivot, a pulley and at its outer end a pulley 26. A cord, rope. wire, orother flexible connection 21 is provided at one end with a hitch 28 securable to a leg at the ankle and extending over the pulleys 26 and 25 and thence having several turns around a rotatable tube 3!! extending between the side flanges 29 on the under side of the baseboard 2U within a casing 30', extending from one flange 29 to the other. By turning the tube 30 and thus winding the cord. 21 around the tube, any desired tension may be imposed upon the leg.

The end of the cord 21 is secured to a cotter pin 3|, Fig. 14, which extends through the opposite walls of the tube 30 and through a longitudinal slot 32 in a shaft 33 in the tube 30, see Fig. 14A. The outer end of this shaft 33 is connected by a link 34 with a handle 35, the same forming a crank by means of which the shaft 33 may be turned and thereby wind the cord 21 upon the tube 3D.

The lever 24 may be swung on its axis into alignmentwith the trough 22 and bar 23 slidable therein to permit the lever 24 to be pushed into the trough when the stretcher is not in use. When the lever 24 is withdrawn, and the bar 23 partly withdrawn, from this trough 22, a pin 35, carried by a leaf spring 31, snaps into a hole in the bar 23 and holds the bar in that position, as shown in Fig. 11. When the lever 24 is swung down into alignment with the bar 23 and trough 22, pressure upon a lever 38 will retract the spring 31 and pin 36 from locking position, permitting the bar 23 and lever 24 to be pushed into the trough 22.

The cotter pin and slot connection between the tube 30 and shaft 33, as shown in Figs. 14 and 14A, permits the shaft 33 to slide Within the tube 3!) when the link 34 and handle 35 are brought into axial alignment with the shaft 33. Except when operating the shaft 33, tube 3l] and cord 21 to impose tension on the leg, as hereinbefore described, the handle and link 34 are moved into alignment with the shaft 33 and the shaft, with the link and handle, are moved forward, within the tube 33, so as to avoid projection of any of this mechanism substantially beyond the side of the baseboard.

To retain the tube 3U in the position to which it is turned there is provided a ratchet 4I fixed to tube 30 engageable by a pawl 42, as shown in Figs. 14 and l5. The pawl 42 is carried by a leaf spring 43 which maintains the pawl in engagement with the ratchet. The leaf spring is operable to release the pawl by means of a slidable rod 44 having a hand operable knob 45.

Tension may be imposed upon the arms by mechanism the same as that above described for imposing tension upon the legs. It is only necessary, therefore, to illustrate the main elements of this mechanism, namely: the cord 41, the tube 48, and the crank shaft 49.

Maintenance of the rigidity of body requires the provision of a member adapted to engage the crotch at the junction. of the legs with the body. It is also desirable that this member be adjustable along the baseboard to enable proper engagement with bodies of different lengths. To effect this purpose the mechanism shown in Figs. 6-10 is provided. The crotch-engaging member comprises a trough-shaped arm 5D, to which is secured, by a pin and slot connection 52, a trough-shaped lever 5I, which. in the position shown in Figs. 6 and '7, telescopically engages the inner face of the arm 50 and is held in parallelism with, and constitutes an extension of, the arm 50, but when it is moved outward to a position where the web of lever 5! can pass beyond the web of arm 5U, the lever 5! is then swingable into the position shown in Fig. 8, to thereby shorten the arm 50 so that the arm may be swung into parallelism with the baseboard, as hereinafter described, when the stretcher is not in use.

Secured to the baseboard and extending longitudinally of the center thereof` are troughs 53, 53, each having a series of cross slots 54, with any one of which a projection from the lower edge of an arm 50 is adapted to engage. There are, in fact, two of these arms 50, one for each trough 53. Extending between and through the side members of each trough 53 are a pair of pins 55, 56, which, outside the side members of each trough 53, carry channel bars 51 holding springs 58 located between pins 55 and 55. Pins 55 are secured to the side members of the arm 5U. Pins 56 are normally held by the springs 58 in recesses 59 at the end of arcuate slots 60 in the side members of the arm 5D when the arms are raised as shown in Fig. 6. The pins 55 and 56 are slidable in slots 6l in the sides of the trough 53, so that each arm 50 may slide along its corresponding trough 53 into position to engage any of the notches 54 therein. In order to release the arm 50 from engagement with the trough 53 the pin 56 is pressed by hand in approximately the direction of the arrow, Fig. 6, to force it out of the recess 59 into the lower end of the arcuate slot 60. The arm is then free to swing to the left, Fig. 6, until it extends horizontally within the trough 53 and flush with the base. Before so swinging the arm 50 into this position, its extension 5I is moved out from the full line position shown in Fig. 6 to the dotted line position shown in the same gure and is swung down into the position shown in Fig. 8.

A similar construction is applied to arms 64 adapted to engage the shoulders, to arms 65 adapted to engage the sides of the head, and

to arm 65 adapted to be positioned between the feet; these arms being shown in Figs. 1-4.

A number of reinforcing channels extend between the side flanges of the baseboard, and as the casings 30 for tubes 30 extend from one side iiange to the other they will also act as reinforcing members.

As shown in my prior application, thin arched plates 'H extend longitudinally of the baseboard, the plates being adapted to underlie and firmly support the spinal column of the body reoumbent on the baseboard. The plates are somewhat resilient and their ends are adapted to engage cross slots l2 in the baseboard so as to enable the plate to be adjusted to different longitudinal positions. Another similar arched plate 13, similarly engageable with notches in the baseboard, is provided for a neck-rest.

As disclosed in my prior application, the arms 55 adapted to engage opposite sides of the head of the body have secured thereto straps 69 and 69 adapted to respectively overlie the forehead, and underlie the chin.

Straps 39, 9i and 82 may be secured to the baseboard so as to be fastened in position over the legs and the chest.

No claim is made herein to the tensioning means herein disclosed, since features thereof deemed patentable, with certain improvements thereon, are described and claimed in a copending application, Serial No. 104,515, filed July 13, 1949.

What I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

l. A stretcher comprising a baseboard having a plurality of body engaging arms pivotally and adjustably mounted thereon, and arranged to be raised at an angle to the baseboard or folded into the plane of the baseboard, a support for each arm having side members connected to the botn tom of the baseboard, coacting means between each arm and the side members of its support for pivotally and slidably connecting the arm to the baseboard to permit independent adjustment of the arms along the baseboard, and means associated with each arm for securing the arm in its adjusted and raised position.

2. A stretcher comprising a baseboard, a crotch holding arm located in the longitudinal center of the baseboard and intermediate the ends thereof, an arm at the lower end of the stretcher for supporting the feet, a pair of shoulder holding arms at the upper end of the baseboard at opposite sides of the longitudinal center, a pair of head holding arms above the shoulder holding arms, each of said arms being pivoted to a channel member secured to the underside of the baseboard to permit the arms t0 be folded into the channel member within the plane of the baseboard when not in use and to be raised into body holding position, and means associated with each arm for permitting independent adjustment of each arm on the baseboard and for retaining it in its raised and adjusted position for holding a human body on the baseboard.

3. A stretcher comprising a baseboard, a channel member connected to the bottom of the baseboard, each of the flanges of the channel member having a slot substantially parallel with the baseboard, a body engaging arm having a por-F tion within the channel member, a pivot pin extending from each side of the arm into the slot in the channel member at that side whereby the arm isarranged to be raised at an angle to the baseboard and moved to various positions along the channel member, and means for securing the arm in its adjusted position.

4. A stretcher comprising a baseboard, a channel member1 connected to the bottom of the baseboard, each of the anges of the channel member having a slot substantially parallel with the baseboard, a body engaging arm of channel shape having a portion within the channel member, a pvot pin extending from each side of the arm into the slot in the channel member at that side whereby the arm is arranged to be raised at an angle to the baseboard and moved to various positions along the channel member, means for securing the arm in its adjusted position, and an extension member for the arm connected to the end thereof by a slot and pin connection whereby the extension can be moved outwardly over the pin, turned and shifted back over the pin t0 position the extension within the arm.

5. A stretcher comprising a baseboard, a channel member connected to the bottom of the baseboard, each flange of the channel member having a slot parallel with the baseboard, the web of the channel member being provided with a plurality of transverse slots, a body engaging arm of channel shape within the channel member, a pivot pin and a supporting pin extending through the arm and the slots in the flanges of the channel member, a channel bar mounted on the pins at each side, a spring within each channel bar interposed between the pins urging them away from each other, there being an arcuate slot in each of the sides of the arm struck from the center of the pivot pin, there being an oiset from one end of each arcuate slot in which the holding pin is seated when the arm is raised, and an extension on the end of the arm for engagement with the transverse slots in the web of the channel member for positioning the arm along the baseboard.

ROBERT C. HUGHES.

REFERENCE S Y'LED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,452,915 Kennedy Apr. 24, 1923 1,901,641 Goldblatt Mar. 14, 1933 2,247,360 Clayton July l, 1941 2,312,742 Andersen Mar. 2, 1943 2,373,456 Chapman Apr. l0, 1945 2,377,940 Hughes June 12, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 25,710 Austria Sept. 25, 1906 18,418 France 1914 (2nd edition of 450,339)

50,579 Netherlands June 16, 1941 

